Make the trip for …
Wakefield is the UK’s unofficial city of sculpture. As the proud birthplace of the sculptors Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, it has two major art attractions in their honour. The whopping 500-acre Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP), and the Hepworth Wakefield. At the YSP, just outside the city and the biggest such park in Europe, sculptures by Moore and Hepworth are joined by ever-changing works by the likes of Ai Weiwei, Phyllida Barlow, Damian Hirst and many more.
Visitors can spend a full day exploring the sculptures dotted around the 18th-century landscape’s lake, woods and hills, plus the six indoor galleries, picnicking or having lunch at the Weston restaurant. Current exhibitions include the irreverent Austrian artist Erwin Wurm (until 28 April 2024) and four major sculptures by Hirst (until 1 September 2024). Installations in the chapel are always a highlight: the African American artist Leonardo Drew has created a jaw-dropping “explosion held in time” (until 29 October).
£9 adult, free for under-25s
On the edge of the city, by the River Calder, is the striking Hepworth Wakefield; the building was inspired by one of the artist’s sculptures. As well as galleries dedicated to Hepworth and work by Moore, it has a collection of modern and contemporary British artists, from Ben Nicholson, Patrick Heron and LS Lowry to Frank Auerbach, Maggi Hambling and Martin Parr. A temporary exhibition showcases the barbershop paintings by the British artist Hurvin Anderson (until 5 November).
The garden, an urban oasis designed by Tom Stuart-Smith, opened in 2019. Its most recent addition is a sculpture by the Lancashire-based artist Halima Cassell.
£12 adult, garden free, on the Wakefield free city bus route
What now?
The city itself is, admittedly, no oil painting. But Wakefield Council hopes that a new sculpture trail through the city centre, inaugurated this summer, will animate the streets and bring art to everyone. There are four artworks to discover so far (there will be six in total), including the first permanent public sculpture by Andy Holden. His bronze structures represent native birdsong – he recorded the songs of declining skylarks, swifts, mistle thrushes and more, translated them into 3D wave form and cast them in metal. Visitors can scan QR cards to listen to the songs while looking at the sculptures. The Art House has studios, artists in residence and exhibitions by up-and-coming artists. There is an open studios event on 7 October for visitors to meet the artists.
Souvenir shopping
A former textile mill opposite the Hepworth Gallery has recently been transformed into Tileyard North. It houses recording studios, event spaces and a gin bar and restaurant; there are also with plans for a boutique hotel. The eventual aim is to turn the area into the UK’s biggest creative community outside London. Regular “peddler markets” are held there, with stalls by local makers plus street food and live music (next event 20-21 October). Tileyard North is also hosting the Hepworth’s festive market, with prints, jewellery, ceramics, textiles, homewares and more by UK-based artists and designers (25-26 November and 2-3 December).
When to go
The city sparkles in November with Light Up Wakefield, three days of light shows, installations and projections on buildings such as the Theatre Royal, plus street theatre, craft activities in the cathedral and library, and a tipi bar (17-19 November). In February, it turns pink to celebrate its most prized produce: rhubarb. The rhubarb festival includes a food market, chef demos and a rhubarb trail (16-18 February).
Get outside
Several former coal-mining sites around Wakefield have become country parks and nature reserves, including Anglers, Walton Colliery and Lofthouse Colliery. For a longer hike, Wakefield is on the north-south route of the Trans Pennine trail, which connects Leeds and Chesterfield.
Drinks and dinner
Kra:ft began as a pop-up in the barber and tattoo artist’s premises with which it shares a building, and is now an “industrial-glam” coffee shop by day and cocktail bar by night. Throwback Coffee House is the city’s first plant-based cafe, serving inventively named breakfasts and lunches (“This ain’t a scene, it’s an aubergine”; “Pretty fly for a fungi”).
The Black Horse is one of the best city centre pubs, with pizza, sport screenings and live music on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sunday. In the village of Walton, three and a half miles south-east of the city, the New Inn serves beer from West Yorkshire breweries, and is popular with cyclists and walkers as well as local people.
Corarima is a welcoming, family-run Abyssinian restaurant, serving gluten-free vegetarian and vegan food – the combination dish is a little taste of everything for just over £20 a head. Pot Pot does Vietnamese classics such as bánh mì, bun and pho.
Stay
The pick of the hotels is Waterton Park (doubles from £125), a Georgian mansion on an island in the middle of a lake, surrounded by parkland and ancient woodland near the village of Walton. The interiors are a little dated but the fairytale setting compensates, and there is a modern spa on the “mainland” (reached by a bridge). In the 1820s, the estate, then known as Walton Hall, was turned into one of the world’s first nature reserves. The Holmfield Arms (doubles from £62) now owned by the Greene King pub chain, is a cosy, lodge-style hotel in Holmfield Park.
Getting there
Wakefield Westgate is served by direct trains from cities including Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh and London. Wakefield Kirkgate serves Lincoln, Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham.
